The Transfer Tavern

Everton should raid Liverpool for £10.8m-rated full-back to bolster their midfield options

The Everton fans in the Transfer Tavern were pleased that their side finally managed to end their dismal away run by recording a 2-1 victory over 10 man Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The pressure on Sam Allardyce’s shoulders was firmly mounting prior to Everton’s trip to face Stoke last weekend, but his side managed to alleviate that pressure by scraping a narrow victory against Paul Lambert’s relegation-threatened side in Staffordshire. Everton were far from their best and struggled to assert their authority on proceedings despite enjoying a 1 man advantage for two thirds of the game, but they got the job done and took themselves to the magic 40-point mark with 7 games to spare.

In terms of his short-term goal of keeping Everton in the Premier League, it’s job well done for Allardyce, and he will now be looking to the future to identify the ares of his quad which are most in need of strengthening. However, Allardyce doesn’t appear to have the backing of the supporters despite the fact he has steered the club away from a relegation battle, so it seems doubtful that he will be the man to oversee the clubs transfer activity this summer.

But regardless of who’s in charge, it’s glaringly obvious that the club need to prioritise the signing of wide players during the transfer window. At this moment in time, Everton only have Yannick Bolasie and Theo Walcott to chose from in wide positions, so clearly it’s an area which needs attention.

With that to consider, Everton should make an audacious bid to sign Alberto Moreno (valued at £10.8 million by Transfermarkt) from their local-rivals Liverpool next summer. The Spaniard has typically been deployed at left-back for the majority of his career on Merseyside, but his defensive frailties have often been exposed in this position.

His attacking qualities in the final-third have far outweighed his defensive capabilities during his time in English football, so it’s about time a manager attempted to mould him into a left-winger instead. Moreno possesses all of the qualities that are needed to play in this position, and at just 25-year-old it is not too late for him to adapt to a relatively unfamiliar position.

Moreno has barely had a sniff of the first-team since Andrew Robertson took his place in the side, so it’s likely that he will be attempting to force a move away from the club this summer in order to acquire more first-team opportunities, and providing that Moreno is willing to adapt to a new position, Everton should add him to their shortlist of potential summer acquisitions.